This is an exciting time to be Pagan. The community is growing, our body of literature and thought is expanding and Pagan Studies is gaining recognition as a credible field of study by the scholars of other religions. We are just beginning to solidify as a movement as we puzzle out who we are and where we're going-- but to do that, we need an accessible print analog to distill our ideas, tell our stories, and record developments.

Thorn drives the dialogue of the modern Pagan movements as they develop, coalesce, and find their voices. Will you join the conversation?

Who We Are

Chip O'Brien, Hellenic Pagan and word addict, edits. Alison McCabe, Kemetic and illustrator extraordinaire, directs our art & visual design. Katelyn Clarke, eclectic Pagan and jack of all trades, places ads among other sundry activities.

In February 2009, Rebecca Buchanan of SequentialTart.com interviewed the Thorn staff. With her permission, we've reproduced the interview on our site for your reading enjoyment.

Read the interview with Chip, Ali, and Kate here!

What Other People Are Saying About Thorn

"The content is first-rate... The community could use a new professionally done mag, and these folks can obviously handle it."
--Ian Corrigan, author of Sacred Fire, Holy Well, A Druid's Companion and Beginning Practical Magic

"For this first issue, Chip and Co. managed to compile a delightful variety of articles, commentaries, artwork and other items... Thorn is by far the most professional startup I've seen, and if the first issue is an indication, this will definitely be a strong voice in pagan publishing for years to come. Five pawprints out of five."
--Lupa, reviewer for PaganBookReviews.com, author / editor of Fang and Fur, Blood and Bone and Talking About the Elephant: An Anthology of Neopagan Perspectives on Cultural Appropriation

"Thorn Magazine is a fascinating blend of science, art, religion, magic, and pop culture. It's so cutting-edge, you can hurt yourself if you turn the pages too quickly!"
--Isaac Bonewits, Neopagan author, leader, and founder of Ar nDraiocht Fein

"I first learned about Thorn on Jason Pitzl-Water's blog, The Wild Hunt. A new Pagan magazine? Intrigued, I followed the links, perused Thorn's table of contents — and immediately ordered myself a copy. I was not disappointed. Thorn is a well-written, intelligent magazine, wide-ranging in its topics, and beautifully illustrated with black-and-white art and photography."
--Rebecca Buchanan, Sequential Tart

How We Started

If we hadn't taken that roadtrip to Salem, MA, this whole mad enterprise may never have started.

In the summer of 2008, your fearless editors visited the Witch Capital of America for the first time. It was like walking a pack of Great Danes down the dog food aisle. However, the more time we spent surrounded by the current dialogues of paganism, the more keenly we felt a certain absence, a gap in the discussion: while many pagan writers struggled to unearth and analyze the old ways, what were the new ways? For followers of ancient traditions, how does one reconstruct an ancestral religion with integrity and respect? For more eclectic pagans, how do modern denizens of suburbs and cities find meaning in archetypes that originated in a more natural world, all but unreachable to most of us now?

Finding few voices that addressed these questions, we set out to create a forum where pagans with inquisitive minds and restless hearts could venture off the map with us in search of answers. We rapidly discovered that we were not alone in our search, and since Thorn's inception, we've busied ourselves gathering disparate voices together to build a convocation of inspiration, cultural and spiritual catalysts, and intellectual passion.

And hopefully, gods willing, we'll be at it for a long time to come.

-- Chip O'Brien, editor
Katelyn Clarke, advertising guru
Alison McCabe, art director